5 Tips To Keep Your Remote Workforce Connected

Effective team communication is always important, but it is now more challenging as most of the people work from home to reduce potential exposure to coronavirus.

The move to virtual working felt like a simple answer to a complex problem. However, physical isolation if not managed appropriately, will have unintended consequences, like decreased moral & reduced productivity.

Humans are social creatures, and as such many of our resilience resources are affected by our social interactions.

QUALCO has adopted successful strategies to maintain resilience & effective communication amongst its teams. To summarize these strategies and our experience so far, here are 5 key tips for establishing an efficient remote team communication.

Support

Confidence

Tenacity

Recovery

Agility

Support Tips

Provide our teams with not only practical but also psychological support

Initiate not only task driven conversations but also connect with our staff on a personal level

Schedule recurrent team meetings

People largely derive confidence through their interactions with their teammates. Working in teams and interacting across the company provides them with daily feedback on their contribution, even if they don’t notice. Their ideas are reinforced in conversations and team interactions, they often see an output connected to their contribution, and they can more tangibly see the value they bring. Remote working decreases feedback loops.

Confidence Tips

Increase our affirmative feedback

Recognize small milestones & individual’s contribution to team goals

Acknowledge what our people do well, even the small things

Make them understand that you notice their contribution

Tenacity Tips

Help them maintain the big picture

Remind them of enduring purpose and your team’s long term goals

Coach them to identify solutions when they feel overcome by the challenges they are facing or the uncertainty they need to navigate

Discuss with them even if you don’t have the answer in everything. Talking about feelings and uncertainty helps to cope with them

Recovery Tips

Help our team members working remotely to find ways to take breaks and recharge through connection with family members and/or co-workers

Work from home does not mean availability 24/7

Set up digital as many forms of social connection as possible

Reinforce our people's one on one communication with other team members

Agility Tips

Encourage them to transform challenges to opportunities

Enhance their agility to handle the new reality

Empower them to develop a growth mindset

Brainstorm together new ways of handling your everyday or long term challenges

Our practical guide recaps to the following:

We bring the office daily life in remote working

We stay close to our teams and peers

We standardize the methods of communication i.e team morning coffee daily at 11 am for ½ hour

#QUALCO #StayHome #StayProductive

Sources:

1. Fostering Resilience During Uncertainty: How HR Leaders Can Support Team Communication and Connection During Social Distancing, Shelley Winter

2. How Loneliness from Coronavirus Isolation Takes Its Own Toll, Robin Wright

3. How Leaders Can Show Empathy During Uncertain Times, Alissa Carpenter